1. Field of the Invention
Present invention provides an automated card dispensing unit that is capable of displaying a card to a user and dispensing the card upon the request of the user and more particularly for storing a stack of cards for viewing through a display window and for a grasping a surface of a displayed card and releasing it without obstructing the display feature.
2. Description of the Related Art
As labor costs have increased various forms of dispensing apparatus have been employed to automatically dispense items to users. For example, dispensing machines have, upon the insertion of monetary value by a user, dispensed telephone cards, subway tickets, bus tickets, prepaid credit cards, arcade game cards, novelty character cards, etc. Usually, the cards are thin rectangular objects with writing and/or display symbols placed on a face surface of the cards. The cards can be made from various materials such as a resin material, paper or metal or similar substances having an ability to retain indicia, a degree of flexibility and a size to be hand held. The term card is frequently used as a generic descriptive term and it can be appreciated that other dispensable objects having value to enable a user to enjoy either the card itself or the services that can be provided by the card can be utilized.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 10-283525 is an example of a vending machine that can dispense monetary notes.
Kadlic, U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,285 and the Nicoletti, U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,743 disclose various storage dispensing devices for dispensing playing cards. The Hennessy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,513 discloses a newspaper vending machine.
As can be appreciated it is highly desirable for a vending machine for dispensing cards to be able to dispense different types of cards and to provide variations of the cards that are to be dispensed. Frequently such machines have displayed on their exterior a sample card or indicia representative of the card to be dispensed. If the cards that are to be utilized and dispensed from the machine are changed, the sample card and/or indicia must be changed to match the characteristics of the present card in the dispensing machine. Accordingly, there is desire to provide a highly economical an efficient automatic card dispenser unit that can provide current information on the card being dispensed to permit the user to purchase or choose an individual card in a convenient manner.